Cambria, 1, has a bucket of water poured on her head as she fills a plastic flower pot from a wading pool Saturday afternoon where she and her parents, Alec and Kasey Swartz, kept cool in their backyard.

Cars on North Berkeley Boulevard whizz past the News-Argus marquee Saturday afternoon where the electronic screen showed the temperature topping out at a scorching 108 degrees. An unlucky traveler pushes his car along Cashwell Drive. He's dripping in sweat...